Customer Services Operating Model
Client Context
Customer service at Hackney was fragmented and split between four contact centres in different directorates. The council had an ambition to create a new TOM for customer access and create efficiencies while improving the experience for residents. Our role was to lead the service and organisation through a transformation programme, to map customer contact through the organisation in order to identify opportunities for efficiencies alongside optimising channels for improved outcomes, while supporting staff and residents through the pandemic.
Our Approach
We conducted a series of workshops and interviews that incorporated customer teams and officers from all services to identify opportunities, discover pain points and to ensure a one organisation approach. We developed an “As Is” blueprint of the service that mapped all incoming contact. We worked with residents by attending panels, conducting user research and implementing a feedback tool. We analysed data sets to identify high cost and high volume areas of demand, opportunities to do more at the first point of contact, create new digital services and reduce both internal and contract spend.
Outputs and Outcomes
Created a single, integrated contact centre resulting in immediate savings of £220k through resource efficiency and a further £500k through management restructure, while joining up the E2E experience for customers and reducing unnecessary hand-offs.
Integrated new services to the contact centre, including Adult Social Care and Council Tax to create efficiencies in the back office and do more for customers at the first point of contact.
Created a pilot that used data to proactively identify vulnerable residents and provide highly skilled, relationship-based customer service to remove barriers to access services, in order to get more residents the right support at the right time.
Introduced a strengths-based approach to deliver preventative services at first point of contact. Designed and delivered "Every Conversation Counts" training to all customer-facing staff and developed a tool to create referrals to partners and other services to provide holistic support to residents.
Amazon Connect pilot to assist with transactional queries, including "find my rent balance" adopted by 50% of customers in first two months.
Web Chat service that handled over 5,000 queries in the first month with a 90% customer satisfaction score.
Procured and implemented new Out of Hours service to manage emergency contacts, streamline customer journey and provide better insight, at a lower cost and with performance targets set that align to organisational values.
Client Feedback
"I’m really grateful to Human Engine for the work they did helping us to bring our customer services teams together and managing the unprecedented challenges. Human Engine led our customer services teams through extraordinary challenges, built an impressive team culture, and made sure that our residents received a high quality experience despite the circumstances. The team also built excellent working relationships with colleagues across the Council's services, using these to deliver continuous improvements to the end-to-end customer journey.”
Rob Miller, Strategic Director Customer & Workplace
About Us
Human Engine is a leading management consultancy with specialisms in strategy, transformation, digital, commercial, procurement and projects.
Founded in 2018, we have partnered with more than 50 local authorities, central government, NHS organisations and national charities to help transform their strategies, operations and cultures.
Our mission is to help individuals and organisations to do the best work of their lives. We do this by blending first-hand, practical experience of the problems we help our clients solve with award-winning consulting expertise and an approach based on trust, collaboration and partnership.